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Holiday Gift Guide: Posterjack.ca

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Since the holidays are quickly approaching, I have enlisted the help of my brother, an avid photographer, to share his experience with Posterjack.ca. With a myriad of creative photo art ideas, holiday decorating and gift giving is easy thanks to Posterjack. Here is my brother's review of the entire ordering process using one of his beautiful photographs as can been seen on his ConceptsbyDT Flickr photostream.

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Hello All,

My sister (yes, the Toronto Teacher Mom) was kind enough to put me into contact with Posterjack. The purpose of our little joint venture was to scratch an itch I've been having to print some of my photographs on a format larger than a 4"x6" print. At the same time, I am able to help Diana with her quest to provide a comprehensive list of Holiday Gift Ideas. You have to admit, there is no better gift than the gift of a one-of-a-kind piece of artwork.

Posterjack is an online photo printing website that allows you to turn your digital photographs into large format works of art. You can choose to print your photographs as posters, canvas prints, metal prints and much more! I have been a fan of canvas prints ever since my friend showed me a few of the canvas prints in his gallery. The medium adds a certain creative feel to the image.

I wanted to turn this photograph into something I could show off to my family and friends. The fact that I almost broke my ankle (and more importantly my camera and lens) getting this shot is a badge of honour. The following picture was taken at Albion Falls in Hamilton earlier this summer.

Albion Falls - All Rights Reserved

The first few steps in ordering from Posterjack involve selecting a print medium, uploading your file, and choosing the size of the print. The most common sizes are shown, but don't forget to check out the "more sizes" option at the bottom. As you can see from the picture below, I found a great size to suit my photograph.

Size options

After the image is uploaded (this may take a few moments), the image is automatically analyzed to determine if the photograph meets certain quality standards. This is to ensure that your image will look great in a larger format. Posterjack also checks to see if the dimensions of your photograph are compatible with the size of print selected. As you can see below, my photograph was not in perfect proportion to the size of print selected. With a bit of cropping, I was able to adjust to the desired size.

Original on left side. Cropped image on right.

With the image cropped to fit the size of the print, you are able to preview the image to ensure you didn't crop out any important details.

Image preview

Once I was happy with the cropping, Posterjack provided me with some other finishing options that included adding a frame, a colour border or custom effects.

Finishing touches.

I wanted to keep my canvas print as simple as possible, so I didn't choose any of the additional options available. This isn't to say that you won't find these features handy or helpful. While my photograph was already converted to black & white, you can convert your images to B&W using one of the available visual effects. This is very helpful if you don't have any editing software on your computer.

Once I finalized all the visual aspects of my order, I was sent to the typical online check-out process. During this process, I was able to choose from several shipping options including local pick-up in the Toronto area. The pick-up option allows you to save some money and cut down on delivery times if you live in the area. Given my busy schedule, I opted for delivery.

Three business days later, I received a shipping notification from FedEx. The email outlined the estimated delivery date and included the usual tracking number. The package was delivered to my door in great condition. My canvas was attached to a cardboard insert which was easily slid out of the cardboard box. The canvas was well protected and did not show any signs of wear or impact.

Packaging

The canvas material itself, as well as the frame, felt sturdy and reassuring. I feel that this is definitely a piece of artwork that will stand the test of time. The canvas came with the hanging bracket already installed, which is extraordinarily handy. Not only did I not have to bring out my toolbox (much to my spouse's relief), but I did not have to worry about making sure the bracket was level or damaging the frame in the process. In the picture below, you can see that the bracket looks to be quite sturdy, Another nice touch are the pads placed on the bottom corners. These should keep the canvas from scuffing the paint on my wall.

Back of canvas

Without much fuss, I was able to hang the canvas on my wall of choice:

Overall, I was really impressed with the whole process. Ordering and editing the image was straight-forward and the product was produced and delivered quickly. I feel that Posterjack did a great job in selecting materials and adding those little extra touches.

Disclosure: I received a free product code to facilitate this review. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own.

Thanks for the post. I have heard good things about Posterjack but have not ordered anything from them yet. Have a couple hard to buy for people on my list so I may have to think about doing a picture for them. (Judy Cowan)

I've heard about Posterjack before but never used their service. Thanks for sharing this review. It sounds like that Posterjack is quite efficient with fast servicing time. Glad to hear your brother was happy with it.

About me

Diana is a mother of two children and works as an elementary French teacher in Toronto, Ontario. Launched in 2006, her blog Toronto Teacher Mom features articles on her family's adventures as well as reviews on the latest and greatest. When she isn't busy blogging, cleaning or playing with the kids, you can find her standing on her head, riding a bike or sharing crafts on dianasdesigns.ca.